


To Us

by SusieBeeca



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Body Shaming, Circus, Conjoined Twins, Freaks 1932, Gen, Human AU, Off Colors, acromegaly, circus AU, freaks, freakshow - Freeform, giantism, human oddities, primordial dwarfism, vitiligo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 18:18:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15149054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SusieBeeca/pseuds/SusieBeeca
Summary: Maybe they only look Freakish when they're on stage.Maybe they're more human when they're together.Maybe Freaks are the most human of all.





	To Us

There was something wonderful about watching the stage lights dim---because the lights from just beyond the wings began to beckon. They were almost free…  
…But they couldn’t go out without a bang.

“Well, would you look at that!” Lory cried.

Rory dramatically slapped her hand on her cheek. “Is it intermission?”

Her twin frowned. “Inter-what?”

She scowled right back. “What-mission?”

Then, to the audience’s great delight, they played upon that long-rehearsed piece of dialogue.

“Wait,” Rory said with a timed, theatrical gasp. “’Intermission’? Is it ‘Inter’? Or ‘Mission’? Are those names? Is Inter on First?”

“I don’t know!”

“Who’s on First?”

“Yes!”

"I'm asking about the players! Who... Is..." She stuck her leg out from the slit in their dress and pulled at her garter, which captured the attention of the few remaining audience members who hadn't quite picked up on the joke. “...On First Base!”

That's when her sister pretended to adjust the seam on the back of her stocking, conveniently bowing her chest down to show off her cleavage. “Yes!”

“Her name is ‘Yes’?”

“Who?”

And it went on….

~

“This is ridiculous.”

Lory just sighed as she leaned closer to the mirror and pretended to wipe her smudged lipstick. Her sister’s bitching had become like a metronome she couldn’t adjust. “No it’s not.”

“Yes it is!” She had to squirm and squeal a bit before she managed to rip out the falsie she’d had pinned into the front of her costume. Holding it up before her face, she wrinkled her nose and waved it until the flicks of sweat shot out from where it had been clinging to her body. “Don’t tell me you actually think this Jessie Bunny schtick actually works for us.”

“Ticket sales seem to say so.”

“Would they say so if we didn’t stuff our chests?” Rory groaned and scratched at where her sequined gown had prickled her skin. “I swear. ‘Siamese Twins’ would make as many headlines as ‘Siamese Twins with Big Boobies!’”

Picking up a makeup wipe, Lory closed her eyes and began dabbing at her discount eyeliner. “Just wash the fake titty off and put it away. I don’t wanna hear this shit again.”

“Maybe I’ll get breast implants.”

“Sure,” she snorted. “Then we’ll be so off-balance we’ll walk in circles.”

“Well you could get them too.”

“My cup size is fine as it is, thank you!”

“Right,” her sister laughed, ripping a wipe from the box. “Why would an Asian girl want anything but an A?”

She’d opened her mouth to retort, but that’s when another voice broke through:

“I hhhhhhope you girls…. Aren’t…. arguuuuing….. again.”

And, despite them being half-in and half-out of their stage makeup, they both turned around with little gasps. “Oh!”

Florence’s face crinkled, her jaw slowly edging up and down as she forced her words out. “I wouldn’t waaaaaaaaaant. To. Maaaaaake one of y..y..you sit… in… a corner. N-Naaaaughty girlssss.”

Despite what most people believed, the Twins could not communicate telepathically. But twenty years of experience together meant they could predict what each other needed to do---and they both jumped off their chair, only to offer it to The Flower.

“Florence, please, have a seat!” Rory said.

Lory added, “It’s all yours!”

The blush came slowly to her big, broad face, and she politely waved them away. “I wuh…. Would break…. It.” Though the enormous woman was already stooped over just enough to be able to peek through the doorway, she bowed her head lower. “But…. Thank… you. Nnnnnnonethelessss.”

The Twins didn’t have to look at each other to sense their mutual grins. They both knew the man-made chair would never seat The Flower, but, known for her gentle dignity as much as her gigantism, she always appreciated the gesture.

“Diiiiner is…. Ready….” And she slowly lowered one huge, bloated eyelid, the closest she could come to a wink. “Iin. Tweeenty. Minutes.”

“Oh, good. Enough time for us to get out of this ridiculous clown makeup!”

It took some understandable time for Florence to bring her arm over to close the door to their tiny, cramped dressing-room, and even before she completed her task, Rory was busy ripping her false eyelashes off.

“No contouring in the world would help her,” Lory noted.

“Oh, shut up,” her sister snapped with a fistful of facewash. She slapped it over her eyes and nose, adding “As if you could ever understand what it’s like to have acromegaly.”

“As if YOU could ever understand what it’s like to be the Cute Twin.”

“Or you to be the Smart One.”

They turned the taps on, and both plunged their heads under. That’s where it always rested between them.

~

When Lory and Rory emerged from their dressing room, the smells of fresh corn and stale ham were wafting in from the outside trailer. After wandering from tent to tent, they sat down on their usual chair, and, as per usual, leaned slightly to the side to allow Patricia to pat in the general area of where they’d just planted their shared ass.

“Twins!” she exclaimed. “Oh, how just glowing and radiant you look! Both of you!” A hand to her face, she turned away, blushing. “You’re both far too pretty for me! Hee hee!”

“I’m not sure about the mashed potatoes,” Rhonda grumbled as she staggered out, clutching the pot in her two most functional hands. “If you get lumps, it’s all my fault!”

“They’ll be great!” Lory said.

Rory giggled as she put her fork on the other side of her plate. “Best ever.”

“Not. Yoooour….. fault at all,” Florence said as she picked up her custom-sized cutlery. “Blaaaaaaame…. It on…. Your… sister…..”

The palest part of her vitiligo flushed, and Rhonda leaned forward, placing the pot on the table. As if in response to the teasing, the stringy limbs of her vestigial twin flickered a bit before returning to their usual limp state.

They all took their places, and after a moment, Patricia put her tiny hands together, shuffling on her booster seat. “I’m going to be honoured with saying Grace!”

They all sat back and looked at the primordial dwarf as she closed her one good eye and focused for a moment, relying on the unusual gift that none of her fellow Freaks could understand. Then she looked back up with a smile. “Oh! Rhonda will forget to add butter while making the mashed potatoes, but they’ll taste better than ever!”

Rhonda’s hands flew to her face, and her duplicated eyes twitched. It was a familiar pattern, and everyone else laughed.

That’s when Patricia lowered her head and folded her fingers. “It’s time for Grace!”

Chairs scratched and napkins folded. The Freaks took their seats and waited patiently for Patricia to speak. She did, after a few quiet breaths:

“Thank you, Our Goddess! For what we eat, and what we wear. For daily food, and nightly care.”

Under the table, the Twins joined their hands. Florence opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again when the Grace continued:

“For times onstage and circus lights. For simple tricks and family fights.”

All around the table came a startling, lingering silence.

Patricia’s face was almost glowing as she finished:

“We are Freaks, and that’s a fact. That’s a simple, sacred act.”

They all just stared at each other over the bowl of pulpy potatoes. Patricia was the most eccentric of all of them, but this was the first time she'd improvised their blessing. And beyond all that---it was the first time _any_ of them had been called something other than repulsive.

 

 **Florence** \---- _The Figure Who Blossomed Over Eight Feet Tall! Come See The Flower!_

 **Lory and Rory** \--- _Joined For Life! Come See The Teen With Two Heads!_

 **Rhonda** \--- _Black? White? Two? Four? Scandal! Come See The Lady Who Is Both!_

And **Patricia** \--- _LITTLE did she know… this tiny psychic can tell what’s past!_

“And finally,” she said as she pulled her hands apart, “I would like to thank the Goddess for making me who I am today. Otherwise, I would never have had a life as beautiful as this one!”

She held up her glass, and after a moment, so did everyone else. 

“To us,” Rhonda said, as two of her smaller eyes closed.

“Tooooo….. us,” Florence said.

“To us!” Patricia said.

The Twins were left looking at each other. They had only one glass in front of them, so instead, they put their hands together, and then looked back at the family they had chosen. “To us.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I literally spent my childhood being sent to big-town hospitals to be tested for a possible freakishness. Luckily it didn't pan out, but.... I kinda ended up a freak regardless ^_^
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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